310 Stainless cutting with Plasma Cutter 2

[david339933]

I am attempting to cut 310 stainless with a plasma cutter with no results.....it won't cut it at all. Has anyone had this problem before? Any suggestions as to a fix?

 

[Mr168]

Won't cut in terms of.... ? Does it do the same to any other material?

 

[david339933]

It won't burn through the material....it simply melts the top. Currently O2 is used. Would Nitrogen give me a hotter arc and burn through? I have found that 310 is used for high temp service. The machine will cut through mild steel like butter.

 

[metengr]

Please review

http://www.ssina.com/download_a_file/fabricate.pdf

 

[btrueblood]

Pure oxygen cutting gas? I've used compressed air before, and have seen CO2 used, but not pure oxygen...

What thickness are you cutting, and what max. mild steel thickness is the cutter rated for.

 

[fegenbush]

I would imagine that O2 would cut the bejesus out of some carbon steel since it would act like an oxy-fuel torch. However, for the same reasons you can't torch cut stainless, I don't think that O2 would work well as a plasma gas in this application.

If you are able, compressed air works just fine. If you are on site and don't have a compressor, get a cylinder of nitrogen or air (you shouldn't need breathing air specifically, but if that's what they have available...).

 

[racookpe1978]

Concur with above: On a oxy-actelyne torch, the primary oxygen is used burning the acetylene and thus heating the steel/iron. The excess oxygen (second or burning handle) "burns the heated iron and blows it away from the cut, exposing more steel to be heated up, melted and burned away.

On a plasma torch, the arc does the heating and melting, and the compressed air blows the melted iron away from the cut. I've not heard of plasma cuts being made with oxygen.

Have you tested your torch setup on a scrap piece of carbon steel? Are you at the correct voltage setting (220 VAC/440 VAC, proper wiring) for your actual hookup - Many torches allow various combinations of single phase, two-phase phase, etc and various voltages - but the machine needs to be jumpered differently.